Way of life...

“Duke Hwan of Khi, First Minister in his dynasty, sat under his canopy reading his philosophy; And Phien the wheelwright was out in the yard making a wheel. Phien laid aside his Hammer and chisel, climbed the steps, and said to Duke Hwan: “May I ask you, Lord, What is this you are Reading?”
The Duke said: “The experts. The authorities.” And Phien asked: “Alive or dead?” “Dead a long time.” “Then,” said the wheelwright, “You are reading only The dirt they left behind.” Then the Duke replied: “What do you know about it? You are only a wheelwright. You had better give me a good explanation or else you must die.”
The wheelwright said: “Let us look at the affair from my point of view. When I make wheels, if I go easy, they fall apart, If I am too rough, they do not fit. If I am neither too easy nor too violent – they come out right. The work is what I want it to be. You cannot put this into words: You just have to know how it is. I cannot even tell my own son exactly how it is done, and my own son cannot learn it from me. So here I am, seventy years old, still making wheels! The men of old took all they really knew with them to the grave. And so, Lord, what you are reading there is only the dirt they left behind them.”

My favorite business story from Ancient China...

CHI HSING TZU WAS A TRAINER OF FIGHTING COCKS FOR KING HSUAN. HE WAS TRAINING
A FINE BIRD. THE KING KEPT ASKING IF THE BIRD WERE READY FOR COMBAT.

'NOT YET', SAID THE TRAINER. 'HE IS FULL OF FIRE. HE IS READY TO PICK A FIGHT WITH
EVERY OTHER BIRD. HE IS VAIN AND CONFIDENT OF HIS OWN STRENGTH'.

AFTER TEN DAYS HE ANSWERED AGAIN: 'NOT YET. HE FLARES UP WHEN HE HEARS
ANOTHER BIRD CROW'.

AFTER TEN MORE DAYS: 'NOT YET. HE STILL GETS THAT ANGRY LOOK AND RUFFLES HIS
FEATHERS'.

AGAIN TEN DAYS. THE TRAINER SAID: 'NOW HE IS NEARLY READY. WHEN ANOTHER BIRD
CROWS, HIS EYE DOES NOT EVEN FLICKER. HE STANDS IMMOBILE LIKE A COCK OF WOOD.

HE IS A MATURE FIGHTER. OTHER BIRDS WILL TAKE ONE LOOK AT HIM AND RUN'.

Way of Life...

Once upon a time in a village in ancient China there was an old man who lived alone with his son. They were very poor. They had just a small plot of land outside the village to grow rice and vegetables and a rude hut to live in. But they also had a good mare. It was the son's pride and joy, and their only possession of value.
One day the mare ran away.
The old man's friends came to him and commiserated. "What a wonderful mare that was!" they said. "What bad fortune that she ran off!"
"Who can tell?" the old man said.
Two weeks later the mare returned accompanied by a fine barbarian stallion. Friends and neighbors all came around and congratulated the old man. "Now you have your mare back, and that stallion is as fine as any in the land. What a stroke of good fortune!"
"Who can tell?" the old man said.
Two weeks later the son fell off the stallion while riding and broke his leg. Friends of the old man came to him to express their sympathy. "It's too bad your son broke his leg, and right before the planting season, too. What bad luck!"
"Who can tell?" the old man said.
Two weeks later, war came to the land, and all able-bodied young men were drafted. The troop that contained the men from the village was at the front in a bloody engagement, and the entire troop was lost. All the men from the village died in battle.
The young man with the broken leg stayed home. His leg healed. He and his father bred many fine horses, and tended their fields.